Blossoms On Her Window Seal
by nekoue
Summary: When Sasuke abandons their village, abandons her, she believes her life to be over. Life for Sakura however, has just begun.


Her heart was in her throat as she stood in the village gateway. She was so, so terribly afraid of what would happen next. "Sasuke..." Sakura said her voice soft, barely above a whisper. "Sasuke, please don't do this!" she pleaded her voice shaking. The boy she loved stood several feet away from her his eyes dark and cold were locked onto hers. "Please, let me help you, I can help you get stronger, I can help you defeat Itachi just let me come with you!" her pleas fell of deaf ears. The wind blew through hair as tears pricked at her eyes, her stomach turned, was he really just going to abandon them? Was he really going to leave her? Didn't he care for her at all? The world was spinning so fast, so terribly fast as they stood there now a few feet apart. Sakura had the overwhelming feeling that some how some way the world was about the shatter into innumerable pieces. "Sasuke... Please, I-I" she paused tears sliding down her cheeks. "I love you!"

Sasuke walked to her, a smirk on his lips "You're so annoying!" he muttered. The ground rocked beneath Sakura's feet, she felt as though she were falling, as though she were going to be sick! She had just confessed her love to the boy she'd been watching from afar for so long and he, he didn't even care, not the slightest indication that he even acknowledged what she had just expressed to him. Sasuke continued to walk towards her, nearing the gate, as soon as he stepped through it he was no longer her team mate, her friend, he was her enemy, everyone's enemy and she couldn't let that happen.

"Sasuke," she said trying to find steel in her nerves. "If you take another step further, I'll scream!" she declared firmly. "I'll alert everyone to what you're going Sasuke, I will!" she glared at him, her jaw set as she willed herself to stop crying.

Sasuke smiled, "Thank you..." With unknown speed he struck the unprepared kunoichi, knocking her out...

Sakura's mind danced in the darkness for hours before she awoke to find herself cold and alone. "Sasuke?" she questioned the darkness of the night. The wind, her only companion blew a some leaves from the bow of an oak. Tears tumbled down her cheeks as she raced out of the gate. "Sasuke? Sasuke!" she called frantically. "Sasuke please, where are you?" Sakura cried as she frantically searched for him. Sakura's soul was heavy and weighted down by sorrow, regret and loss. How, how could have... Sakura fell to the ground the trees over head swaying in the breeze casting shadows over her as they blocked out the radiant light of the moon.

It was all her fault, and she knew it, it was her fault he was gone. She hadn't tried hard enough, hadn't done enough, her world was broken, and it would never be right again. On her hands and knees Sakura wept uncontrollably the earth staining her face as she rested her head against it. She hated herself, why did he leave her? Why didn't he care? Why had she told him that she loved him? Why was she such a useless thing? Why was she so weak? Why was crying in the middle of the forest just outside of the village? Why did she need him to feel whole? Was she that insignificant that she needed someone in her life to be important? Her stomach was full of bile, she felt as though she were going to be physically sick at herself. She was disgusting! She screamed loud and long and anguished. She didn't want to live, not without him! No! She shook the evil thought from her mind. Not because of him but because of herself, she was lowly filth! Oh how she hated herself!

Drawing a kunai she, biting her lip put it to her wrist, damn it she was such a coward as she sat their her hand trembling she deserved to die! A small grunt escaped her lips as she slashed it deep across her pale flesh causing a river of redness to bubble up, gushing to the ground! She took the kunai in her other hand, but it was slick with blood and difficult to hold. She steadied herself as light-headedness washed over her. With another quick motion she divided her own flesh. A wave of uneasiness filled her as the world twisted and spun around her. She slowly lie down. She wept her vision becoming blurry and distorted. She heard a sound coming to her but her mind felt hollow and could barely comprehend what was happening. Sakuras was startled at the seemingly sudden appearance of sandaled feet. Just before she fell into an endless abyss she had the oddest feeling that she was somehow weightless, somehow flying...

Sakura was warm, it was a pleasant feeling being warm, she was warm and lying on something soft. She thought she heard someone singing. 'Oh,' she thought suddenly. 'I must be in heaven...' The thought had little time to dwell on her mind before she fell back into the dark... Now Sakura was being washed, very gently, being tended for, and the water was warm, 'All the things I've ever done wrong,' she thought. 'They're coming off of me...' She was gone again... Sakura was warm, lying on something soft, was clean and definitely heard someone singing, or humming gently. She opened her eyes. She was on her back gazing up at the sky, it was ink black and a light with stars, she closed her eyes. Opening them again she found that she was looking at a sky that was a deep purple, there were a few tree tops that she could see now that she struggled to focus, but nothing more then the sky and twinkling stars. She closed her eyes. The sky was lighter now, a few less stars then when last she looked but is was still a purple glow that filled the heavens.

Sakura turned her face to the warmth. The fire was bright and flickering sending the trees retreating from it's deadly hunger as they cast long shadows across the earth. She watched the fire dance and waver for several moments until she managed to look past it. There on the other side sat a boy, he was about her own age and he wore a short brown men's kimono with three-kamon, and black, only slightly loose harem pants. Sakura looked at him, he sat on a log with what looked like a sword at his side. As she looked she noticed that his knees were brought up to his chest his arms folded atop them, his chin resting on his arms his face oddly obscured by the shadow they cast on it. Sakura was startled when her eyes made their way to his face, and she found that he was looking at her also.

"Hello..." Sakura said looking into his deep brown eyes.

"Hello, are you able to stay awake this time?" he asked his voice firm and masculine, but fare with youth. Sakura nodded. The boy lifted his head and straightened his back coming to his full height, he was long, and lean. "How are you feeling?" he asked motioning to her as a lock of dark hair fell into his face.

Sakura thought for a moment. "I'm feeling fine, thank you..." she replied not quite able to remember where she was or how she'd gotten there.

The boy sighed as he looked at her with concern filled eyes. "Do your wrists hurt?"

"My," Sakura asked pulling her hands out from under the blanket beneath which she rested. "Wrists?" She gazed at them in confusion. They were bound with heavy bandages made of brown cloth, some blood had seeped through the bandage on the right. She started at them trying to remember. When she finally did the guilt, remorse and stupidity of her act washed over her causing her to cover her face and cry.

"Hey," said the boy sitting next to her. "A pretty girl like you shouldn't be crying! Please stop!" he said softly rubbing her back. "There's nothing to be sad about!" he said in a gentle yet cheerful tone. Saukra glanced up at him, he was smiling. Sakura tried stiffing her sobs but it was hard for her. Once she was in control again she tried to sit. "Up ya go!" the boy said helping her. Sakura couldn't look at him she was too disgraced by her own actions to do so. "Hey," said the boy lifting her chin "Do me a favor?" Sakura looked at him unsure. "I just met the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, she has short pink hair," he said wiping at her tears. "Sea green eyes that envelope your soul, lovely, fair skin and a great love of crying. You wouldn't happen to know her name would you? Wouldn't happen to be able to introduce me to her, would you?"

Sakura looked at him her gaze wavering, he, he was talking about her? She looked at him her eyes searching his face. He was tanned from working outside, his eyes were large and dark brown, his hair was long and black pulled into a loose knot. Her eyes focused on something, he had soot on his face. Sakura laughed. "Oh!" the boy gasped his eyes going wide. "That girl I was telling you about, she just got more lovely!"

Her heart was light and felt like it would soon soar out of her body. "My name's Sakura... Sakura Haruno..." she whispered.

"Sakura!" he breathed. "Perfect!" He brushed some hair out of her face. "Now if only she'd keep from weeping!" He wiped away a stray tear with a calloused thumb. "What were you doing out here all alone Sakura?"

The girl was silent. "I was following a boy," the stranger bristled. Sakura knew, or thought she knew what he was thinking, he was thinking that somehow Sasuke had hurt her. "I, I was trying to stop him from leaving..."

"Why?" the young man asked gazing at her.

"Because, he was my friend, because I," she struggled not to cry but a couple tears slipped out anyway. "Because I thought I loved him!" she said her voice high and distraught. "Because now, now he's dangerous to us, to our village!" The boy wrapped an arm around her, bracing her, holding her up.

"He was a very stupid person." the young man said gruffly. "How anyone could leave you is beyond me!" Sakura looked at him unsure of what she should be feeling right now but for some reason felt as though she were going to explode!

"W-what's your name?" she whispered.

Smiling the boy shuttered slightly and Sakura realized for the first time she was not only sitting on his bedroll but was wrapped in his only blankets. "Thank you." he said when she began to spread the over his lap. "My name's Haru." The boy smiled.

"Haru?" Sakura asked. "I like it, and your last name?"

"Nao." he said softly. There was a moment of quiet as the wind whistled through the trees. "The village you were talking about, it wouldn't happen to be Konohagakure?" he asked softly.

"Yes." Sakura said looking at him.

"You're a ninja?" he asked lowering his head.

"Yes." she answered, then Haru shifted uncomfortably. "Are you alright."

"Fine," he smiled. "I am fine my beautiful Sakura!" he stroked one of her cheeks. Sakura didn't believe him and this made her feel suddenly uneasy. Why was she getting so close to a stranger, to someone she'd only just met? Sakura moved away from him. He looked at her, and sighed. "I thought you might have been..." he said producing her kunai from a pocket. He sighed again. "I am a Ronin, Sakura, a rogue samurai..."

"Oh." Sakura said looking down, she'd met samurai before, two had worked for Gato in the land of waves, they were cruel and terrible and she hated them. She glanced up at the young man again, he wasn't looking at her, his eyes were averted as if in shame. "Ronin, so your master died?"

Haru shifted again, "Yes, he and his family were attacked..." the boy grew quiet looking years older in his sorrow. After a few moments he glace skyward. "My most lovely Sakura," Haru said standing, that is when Sakura saw that large strips of cloth had been torn from the bottom of his kimono. Sakura rubbed her bandaged wrists. "It's getting light, we'd better get you back." Taking up a bucket he dumped water over the flame which sizzled and popped in complaint. Making his way to the log he'd been sitting on when Sakura had awoken he grabbed two sheathed swords. One a long katana and one a short tanto sword and secured them around his waist with his obi, on which hung a wolf shaped netsuke. He swung an elegant yet quite old looking yumi bow and a quiver of arrows over his shoulder. Lastly he slipped on a pair of zori sandals and gave the embers a good stomping.

Helping Sakura stand he lead her through the ever lightening forest as dawn arrived. Coming to a log he stepped half way over it before turning as taking Sakura by the waist easily lift her up and over the fallen tree. The act had at first startled her, but it was really quite nice when she thought about it. Once they reached the gate Haru stood a ways off, afraid to leave the tree line. "Sakura," he said to her as she unwittingly continued without him.

"Yes?" she asked turning a little too abruptly causing her to get dizzy.

Haru raced to catch her. "Please take care of yourself!" he smiled down at her as she rested in his arms.

Weary Sakura walked down the hall to her bedroom, she'd had to tell her story twice more then she would have liked. Once to Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane and once more to Hokage Tsunade. When Tsunade saw her bandages she took her aside privately. Sakura guilt ridden told her sheepishly what she had done. Tsunade was upset but remain silent as she healed her words and sent her away. While Lady Tsunade decided what was to be done about missing-nin Sasuke Uchiha she sent Sakura away to rest. Lying down on her bed she thought over everything that had happened in the few short hours between midnight and ten in the morning. 'Sasuke,' she thought, tears bubbling to the surface. 'What have you done?' Rolling over as a bitter tear ran down the side of her face she noticed something. Sitting she saw her kunai on her window seal, and pinned beneath it a thin twig of sakura cherry blossoms. Sakura smiled.


End file.
